Quant help for GRE

[DVMorBust]

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I'm planning on taking the GRE in late May, and I'm beginning to get a bit panicked about the quant section. I've taken a lot of practice tests and done as many online ones as I can get my hands on, and it seems like my scores are pretty consistent with the verbal (well over 700), but my Quant scores are anywhere from 500-700 depending on the day. Unfortunately, it seems that this is the exact opposite pattern that schools look for in successful applicants...I realize that practice tests aren't the real thing, but I also know that if I feel more confident about my quant score, I'll do better on the real thing, which is key.

Anyways, I'm frustrated because I feel like schools look at quant scores to see if you have "reasoning skills", when verbal reasoning is really just a different approach to problem solving...

Anyone else in the same boat/have advice for picking up that quant score? I've seen everywhere claims of 'it's really easy to get a high quant score, just do this _____" but so far absolutely nothing has clicked. I do fine with the math involved in physics and chemistry and everything, I think I just really need to have a reason behind an equation to figure something out.


I apologize if none of that made sense. I'm just not sure how to keep studying, now that my time's running lower and my current method does not seem to be doing the trick...

 

[banditalfi]

I would DEFINITELY recommend getting a book that has the helpful hints for math. It seems like you understand math (I mean, hey, you're doing well on the "harder" math problems), but it would be helpful to relearn the quick tricks so you can identify the right answer in a short amount of time without thinking too hard. I used Barons, which was good for me, but I suggest sitting down in a bookstore and just going through a bunch of books to see which one instructs in the way you learn from best.

Also, come test day, it is VERY important that you go in thinking you can do well. Even if you got a 500 on the last practice test, you know you can get a 700, so go in and think positive thoughts because there is no sense in making yourself more stressed than you need to be!

Good luck!

 

[mistifical]

I took the Princeton Review (mostly for verbal help). I found that the books they used were very helpful and gave lots of little tips for doing some of the math problems. I would see if you could buy one of these books because those little quantitative "hints" they provided probably boosted my score by about 100 points.

http://www.randomhouse.com/princetonreview/graduate/?coupon=prbstore&ref=affpr&from=princetonreview

 

[fargeese]

Have you been taking the paper or computer tests? I found that when I took practice paper tests I scored poorly on the quant, but did better on the quant in the real test. I must have spent 20 minutes on the first 9 problems, which freaked me out something awful, but it didn't matter because they set your score based on those first problems, I guessed most of the second half but at that point the hundreds portion (500, 600, 700) is already set and the last problems just determine where you fall in that range.

And I had a better verbal than quant and no one said a word, so it must have been ok.

 

[DVMorBust]

Fargeese - I've been practicing with both, but I have been doing as many online ones as I can find.

I have the Princeton Review 'Cracking the GRE' book. I might go see if there are other ones at the bookstore that are more useful for the math section...

 

[projekt]

I liked the Kaplan book. It was pretty good. My problem was speed, though, not content.

Where are you getting stuck? Is it the actual math or is it getting tricked by the problems?

 

[DVMorBust]

I get stuck the most on those stupid 'A is greater than B, B is greater than A, A and B are equal, yadda yadda...' problems. I seem to way overthink them, and I frequently THINK I've found something that prevents that from being found out, like a 'what about this situation?" type thing...but then it turns out they actually are equal. Or one is definitely greater than the other.

Make any sense?

 

[happytowner]

don't worry...the practice tests are garbage....i had the same problem, stable verbal but quant scores all over the place on the ets, kaplan, princeton rev. practice tests, but when i took the real gre, my quant scores were higher than any i'd ever gotten on the practice exams ....lined up almost exactly with my verbal

i think maybe it's because the practice tests aren't really 'adaptive' -- the ets one on the disk is a bit, but not like the real exam...

also, don't overthink the quant problems, whenever i tended to get paranoid of trick questions my score went down....they're not actually all that tricky. they only do very obvious tricks...and if you do a lot of practice exams you'll know all the tricks they like (ie, on quant comparison -- A is greater if you use a positive number but not if you use a negative number or a fraction). They really don't get any more complex than that, and I did a lot better once I realized that it was all pretty simple...

 

[twelvetigers]

The REA book had a big section over the written sections, which I thought was a waste. I had a Kaplan for my biology GRE and that was much more helpful to me. I'm getting or borrowing a Kaplan for this time with the general GRE. Definitely go to a Barnes and Noble (or wherever) and look through them all.

 

[projekt]

Yeah, and that's good advice not to over-think. Usually if there's a trick to knowing if something can't be figured out, it's because of some math rule that those of us who breathe the stuff get without thinking. Trust your intuition.

On the other hand, the harder problems are designed to give you the "right wrong answer" in the choices. If it seemed too easy, it probably was, and you should check your assumptions.

Contradictory advice, huh? If you're on the right track, the questions will get trickier or require more math theory to answer quickly as you go along. If you're on the wrong track, they get really manageable, so that you feel like you aced it (except maybe that first one).

Big word of advice: finish the section. Don't get hung up on any one problem, the test is quite speeded. It's probably better to answer something wrong than it is to run out of time, because if the computer has adapted you into the 500-700 range, and you answer one wrong and the rest right, you'll get a mid 600s. If you don't finish, you may get a 500. (The computer assumes you'll get the rest wrong.)

 

[Serendipity4]

I'd like to second the Kaplan book. The one I had came with a CD, but the best part was the last section was "100 tips for the math section of the GRE," or something like that. I would say I love math, but there are SO many tricks I've forgotten. I went through that section once or twice, and I absolutely think it helped me -- A LOT. There are just some problems out there that are REALLY easy if you know the trick, and near impossible if you don't (or would just take you about an hour to figure out...). Also, I think from what I remember you should work more slowly in the beginning, but those are the ones that are most important to get right (that is, if you get 3 wrong total, and they're all in the first 8 problems, vs. 3 wrong total and they're all in the last 8 problems, you'll have a much higher score in the latter situation).

One last word of advice -- and please feel free to laugh! 🙂 -- but I assure you, I mean this wholeheartedly: figure out what your favorite (music) CD is to rock out to. No really, please do it. And then play it really loudly (but safely!🙂 on the way to your test, and ROCK OUT. I mean, sing loudly, bob your head, have other drivers staring at you ROCK OUT. It sounds silly, but on my way to the GRE's I found myself getting nervous, even though I don't generally get that way. So I put on my favorite CD for the whole ride there, and by the time I walked into the building, I felt like I could conquer the world. And, as someone said earlier, it REALLY helps to think positively. So, silly as it sounds, I really do think it helps. 🙂

Good luck!

 

[RazorDoc2010]

I didn't read all the replies so I apologize if anything has already been said.

For those comparison problems, take one of them and make it look like the other. For instance... A) 0.8 B) 4/4.5 Well, 0.8 is 4/5 so if you decrease the numerator then you're increasing the overall, so B is obviously greater. I know that's a very easy example compared to what you'll see, but that's the approach I took and it payed off big time.

Also, take your time on the first couple to NAIL them! They play the highest role in how your score is determined, and missing the first couple puts you in the hole automatically. The questions near the end are really just fine-tuning your score and don't have any huge effect on your overall score.

Good luck!!

 

[VAgirl]

For those comparison problems, take one of them and make it look like the other. For instance... A) 0.8 B) 4/4.5 Well, 0.8 is 4/5 so if you decrease the numerator then you're increasing the overall, so B is obviously greater.

That's a really good approach, I totally agree. But you mean if you decrease the denominator, not the numerator. 🙂

 

[Moonpaw]

Big word of advice: finish the section. Don't get hung up on any one problem, the test is quite speeded. It's probably better to answer something wrong than it is to run out of time, because if the computer has adapted you into the 500-700 range, and you answer one wrong and the rest right, you'll get a mid 600s. If you don't finish, you may get a 500. (The computer assumes you'll get the rest wrong.)

Not to sound contrary to that, but while you do want to finish the section, don't rush through unless you're really at the end. I think someone said this before, but definitely make sure you get the first couple right--that's where the computer decides if your score should be in the upper range or lower range, and then adjusts the questions accordingly. Once you get to the end, you're probably already in a 100-point range or so, and getting them wrong won't have quite an effect on your score. But yes, if you see you have a minute left, just start clicking answers and finish!

 

[bunnyslippers]

I'm planning on taking the GRE in late May, and I'm beginning to get a bit panicked about the quant section. I've taken a lot of practice tests and done as many online ones as I can get my hands on, and it seems like my scores are pretty consistent with the verbal (well over 700), but my Quant scores are anywhere from 500-700 depending on the day. Unfortunately, it seems that this is the exact opposite pattern that schools look for in successful applicants...I realize that practice tests aren't the real thing, but I also know that if I feel more confident about my quant score, I'll do better on the real thing, which is key.

Anyways, I'm frustrated because I feel like schools look at quant scores to see if you have "reasoning skills", when verbal reasoning is really just a different approach to problem solving...

Anyone else in the same boat/have advice for picking up that quant score? I've seen everywhere claims of 'it's really easy to get a high quant score, just do this _____" but so far absolutely nothing has clicked. I do fine with the math involved in physics and chemistry and everything, I think I just really need to have a reason behind an equation to figure something out.


I apologize if none of that made sense. I'm just not sure how to keep studying, now that my time's running lower and my current method does not seem to be doing the trick...

Oh my goodness, congrats on getting 700+ on the verbal! That is such an accomplishment. I'm having the exact opposite problem, sort of. I can't even move out of the 500's on practice verbal tests. Do you mind telling me how you've been studying for the verbal portion?

 

[DVMorBust]

Thanks for all your suggestions, guys. I'm going to be making a trip to the bookstore this afternoon, and I'll see if I can find some good math-oriented books.

bunnyslippers - To be perfectly honest, I don't think it's been study-related. I love languages, I've been an avid reader since before Kindergarten, I write for fun, and my undergrad degree is in Linguistics. . . That's supremely unhelpful.

With that in mind, I'd say one thing that definitely helps is reading books outside of my comfort range (even just one in a genre I don't usually gravitate towards, or an easy-ish non-fiction on a topic I know nothing about). Different genres and topics use words in different ways, and even though it's impossible to see every word used in every way possible, getting used to things not meaning exactly what you'd expect makes you more comfortable with it.

Also, those lists of common GRE questions point out a lot of the common mistakes and alternate meanings of a lot of words, which is good to know. I thought that the verbal section in 'cracking the GRE' by the Princeton Review had a very good section on approaching verbal problems, if you haven't read that already.

Other than that, if you have studied a foreign language in the past (so your brain kind of knows how to approach conjugation/etc.) it might be worthwhile to find a book on latin and/or greek that has a good list of suffixes/prefixes/common roots. A lot of times knowing what type of word they're trying to throw at you (a negative adjective involving the color pink? An absolutely wonderful verb that has something to do with fish?) can really narrow down the answers.

Sorry I couldn't be more help...but let me know if you have anything specific you want advice on, I might be more helpful if I knew which sections you had trouble with.

 

[sofficat]

I didn't read any of the posts (after the first one) but I just wanted to add this: Don't freak out about the GRE. It's a stupid, non vet related exam. It's true that some schools really focus on it, but let's just say I took it twice, did terrible both times and still got in to a GREAT vet school on my first try.

GRE =

 

[CanadianGolden]

You know, bashing the GRE really isn't helpful or mature. It's not stupid, and although it obviously doesn't have veterinary medicine topics (do you really WANT to take an exam on vet med before you start vet school?) that doesn't make it irrelevant. The quantitative section, in particular, tests your reasoning ability and logic--much more than it tests your math skills.

I don't want someone illogical to go off half-cocked on a diagnosis-- when you do that on the GRE, you get the wrong answer. When you do it to an animal, you could end up treating the wrong condition, performing unnecessary surgery, etc. So while the GRE might not be obviously vet related, it's very naive to say what you said; it implies that you have not thought outside the box about the actual skills required by this exam.

 

[NoleDevil]

You know, bashing the GRE really isn't helpful or mature. It's not stupid, and although it obviously doesn't have veterinary medicine topics (do you really WANT to take an exam on vet med before you start vet school?) that doesn't make it irrelevant. The quantitative section, in particular, tests your reasoning ability and logic--much more than it tests your math skills.

I don't want someone illogical to go off half-cocked on a diagnosis-- when you do that on the GRE, you get the wrong answer. When you do it to an animal, you could end up treating the wrong condition, performing unnecessary surgery, etc. So while the GRE might not be obviously vet related, it's very naive to say what you said; it implies that you have not thought outside the box about the actual skills required by this exam.

Hmm, I see where you're coming from and somewhat agree (that the GRE tests your reasoning ability and logic and these two aspects are important), but your argument sounds like a slippery slope argument (i.e. not treating the GRE in a logical manner --> not treating veterinary medicine in a logical manner)... Can you honestly base someone's rational thinking capacity because they get frustrated with a test? I don't like the GRE myself, but I'd like to think I'm a logical-minded person.

Sofficat didn't say he/she wanted to take a test on vet med; she just mentioned the GRE was a non vet related exam. Correct me if I'm wrong, Sofficat, but I take this to mean not related to the sciences that are the foundation of vet med (hence would imply a "vet related" exam).

 

[CanadianGolden]

Again though, do you want to take the MCAT? I was pretty happy not to have to relearn physics and calculus, personally. I guess I find the attitude of "Who cares if you do badly, the test is stupid anyway" to be somewhat of an immature/sour grapes way of thinking.

 

[carrbear21]

The Kaplan book for Math was really helpful-- it tells you how to narrow down the answers immediately and gives other clues/hints. Definitely worthwhile.

 

[Catnapper]

DVMorbust--at least you've achieved a 700 on the quant at some point! Kudos! 🙂 It sounds like you're in pretty good shape!

I stopped taking math classes at 15, then had to take remedial math from a CC later on just to do the chem, etc. for pre-vet reqs. So I'm really a math illiterate. I just never had the math drilled into me the way most people have, but I've still managed to improve my score (it was in the 400's the first time around!😱) and get interviews. Granted, I only made a waitlist this year, though. So I've started practicing problems from the prep books once again! Wheeee!!!
I guess my point is this: it could be worse--and, like somebody else pointed out: we don't have to take the MCAT!!